February has been a month of preparation, or at least preparing for future preparations…

I’ve started looking into conventions I want to attend this year, and realized a little too late that I should have been doing this three months ago. Due to another trip I’m taking around the same time, I will not be attending Awesome Con in DC this year, which is a bummer.

However, I’ve found a few book festivals in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia that I’m looking into attending later this autumn. Some of the application dates are looming, so that will be a focus for me this month. I’d definitely like to attend two of those. I’m considering doing all three. Hopefully I’ll have more details this time next month.

Now, onto my February goals!

Last Month’s Goals

1. Write at least 10,000 words in WoEL or “Survivor”.
2. Go to the gym 2-3 times per week.

Write 10,000 words?

No! But I wrote more than in January. If progress insists on being a slow climb rather than a sudden surge, then I’m happy to say I’m making progress.

I wrote about 5,700 words in February, all in my short story. I have 12,540 words total at this point, which is about halfway to my 25-30k word count goal for the first part of my duology.

I’m also thinking a lot about my title. I’ve been referring to it as “Survivor” as a code name, but I really don’t like that name. A few halfway decent ideas have come to me for a proper title, but nothing has stuck yet. I swear, this is the hardest part of writing a story.

Go the gym regularly?

Yes! The first week or so of the month was a little slow in the gym-going arena. I was just busy and hadn’t developed a real routine yet. I’m not sure I have a proper routine down even now, but I’ve at least been going 2-3 times per week for the last 3 weeks.

Part of my brain tells me that’s not enough, but the other part counters that we have a full-time job, and a kid, and books to write, and a house to take care of, and a dog, and so on, so it’s not realistic to maintain a 4- or 5-day per week gym schedule right now.

The good news is I’m already starting to notice a difference physically. My flexibility and endurance are starting to return, and my arms and legs now remember what it feels like to work out regularly.

I’m going to continue at this steady pace for the time being and see how it goes.

Goals for March

1. Write 10,000 words. I’ll have two more days this month to get some writing done. Hopefully that’s enough to make up a 4,300-word deficit.
2. Go to the gym 3 times per week. While it was necessary for me to ease back into a workout routine, going to the gym twice per week just doesn’t produce results. Now is the time to get a real routine down.
3. Apply for/confirm at least one convention. I don’t want to be too gung-ho, so I’m setting a modest goal for March. If I get into one convention later this year, I’ll be happy. Maybe I’ll apply for more later in the month. And hopefully I’ll have some good news to share next month.

Steve D